“At the first sign that you are catching a flu, heat your whole body temperature up to a mild fever, 102.0° F, by any means readily available. Use an oral fever thermometer to get it right. Ideally this self-induced fever can be produced by immersing yourself in a bath of 103° F water for five minutes followed by raising the water temperature to 106° F for about ten minutes. After adjusting the bath to 106° F, which will feel a bit uncomfortable, just lie there deep in the water and soak in the heat and let the tub temperature drift back down to about 105° F, by the end of the ten minute period. You may have to reheat the water to keep it at 105°-106° F. Use your oral thermometer to measure your mouth temperature, and the bath temperature alternately until your mouth temperature reaches 102° F. After the heat soak get out and towel off. Then rest, and perspire, and let your body adjust to its natural temperature. Do this two times per day for three days, and once a day for three more days, or twice a day if flu symptoms are still active. That’s it.”

In discussing this procedure with my friends it seems near impossible for them not to get the wrong idea—that they are cooking the flu germs. It can not be emphasized too strongly that this is wrong. You can’t kill the germs without killing yourself first because they can take more heat than you can. What is happening with this procedure is that you are alerting your body’s natural infection fighting mechanisms, such as the macrophages, that there is work that they need to be attending to. There are several things that the body does to fight off invading viruses, and the only one of them that totally eliminates the flu virus from your body are the antibodies which your body creates to fight that particular virus. The problem is that it takes your body a couple days to learn how to make enough of these specific flu killing antibodies. But, once it knows how to create them it sets about totally eliminating those particular viruses from your body. What the flu shot that you get from your doctor does is give your body a sample of some particular flu virus that the Center For Disease Control (CDC) thought was about to become a menace. This shot contains a weakened form of the virulent virus so it doesn’t make you very sick, but it gives your body a head start on eliminating that particular virus from your body when you are exposed to it later on.

What the self induced 102° F fever does is to stimulate your body to think that it is being attacked. It doesn’t know what it is being attacked by but it goes into high alert, and your macrophages start looking around for something which it identifies as foreign to attack. The problem is that these macrophages are fairly large ,and they can’t go everywhere the tiny flu virus can go, and so the viruses have refuges where they can hide, and do some reproduction. But the macrophages can prevent the flu from going into a totally unchecked reproductive expansion. The hot bath procedure slows the virus down enough to give your body time to identify the virus, and start making the necessary antibodies. The hot bath procedure isn’t to cook the virus; that can’t work, so don’t do it. The temporary fever alerts the bodies defenses by simulating your body’s inflammation process which gives the warning that the body is being invaded by something foreign.

If you try and heat your body very much above 102° F, it will be counterproductive, because that excessive heat will weaken you, and make you even more vulnerable to getting even sicker. So if you can’t wrap your mind around this concept don’t attempt to do the hot bath technique. This procedure should be started at the very first signs of a flu, and not several days into the symptomatic stages. If you are already running a fever there is no need to increase your temperature as your body is already doing that in an effort to fight off the virus. Just admit that you are sick, and look forward to a few days of various levels of misery.

No one should ever try and do this procedure to another person!!! This is a self-controlled procedure for adults only and you should only be doing it while you want to be doing it, and not a moment longer. Another thing I’m afraid some idiotic fools are going to try cooking their kids in an effort to cure their kid’s cold. That is so incredibly stupid that I would say that it is a criminal behavior. If you hear of someone going to do that STOP them by every means possible.

(Update 17 May 2009) I have considered the problem of the common cold and the new Swine Flu at greater length with a list of 16 new suggestions on my blog: Reducing the flu threat for everyone. These will all help reduce the rate of transmission of the virus and if that can be brought to a very low level the flu will die out and become less of a problem.

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40 thoughts on “A cure for the common cold using 105° F baths.”

Discovered this back when I was 11 (thought I was speeding up the metabolic rate of my body to “help” fight the cold). Been using it ever since, but I use a bit of a different way. After a hot bath (which I did once a day usually at night (no clue on temperature… but I always have steam coming off my skin), I usually put my pajamas and put a hat on then slide into the bed to slowly sweat it out as my temperature slowly cools. being older (and married), I can’t seem to do that anymore (possibly cause my wife won’t let me).

I’ve actually tried this before, and have a friend who recommends it, but when I see this: “Do this two times per day for three days and once a day for three more days. That’s it.” it makes me wonder if it really works. Because basically that’s about a week, which is how long it takes for a cold or flu to pass on its own: http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/cold-guide/flu-cold-symptoms

Eric – The difference is that when using the procedure described you never feel sick and don’t develop any snot, and snot is a good measure of how sick you got. Also, since your flu germ load is very low your likelihood of giving it to your friends is greatly reduced.

The main point is to use a mouth thermometer to raise your temperature to 102 degrees F. in about 15 minutes and then cooling off naturally. This alerts your body to fight the germs. It is not about cooking the germs! Do this two time a day for three days at the very beginning of a flu, by the third day your body will have developed the anti bodies which will totally eliminate the germs which the macrophages can’t get at. You will feel better for several hours after each bath but it takes three days for the body to get good at wiping out the germs.

Let me tell you that whereas the concept seem plausible to common public that “self induced fever alerts the macrophages that there is work to be attended”, being a physician myself i consider it a totally rubbish explanation. Let me clarify that body’s natural defence mechanisms and macrophages are neither sleeping nor they get alerted by the fever. In fact fever is a sort of aftermath or by-product when these macrophages go to work. When viruses or other pathogens are destroyed by macrophages, they release many chemical mediators / degradation products, these mediators when reach the hypothalamus (brain) along with blood, set the body’s thermostat to a higher temperature.
The common household beliefs are not always true, if it were then science wouldnt be sleeping over it.

Thank you Doctor for your critique of my common cold treatment theory. – However, I do write from personal empirical, controlled in the details, experience. I clearly admit that this process is experimental, and that anyone using it should consider it an experiment. Whether it is macrophages or something else, I don’t know and don’t claim to know, but only suggest it as a possible explanation for what I have personally observed. I have hoped that some other people would follow the procedures I have stated that quite clearly and ask people who read my blog to maintain a minute by minute diary and observe carefully if they get similar results to mine. I have posted other experiments which have gotten positive responses from those who tried them. https://probaway.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/colonoscopy-or-abduction-by-space-aliens/ It’s an intentionally cute title to grab attention. https://probaway.wordpress.com/2008/08/03/itching-itching-and-more-itching-how-to-stop-itiching/ And several others – I post things from personal experimental observation and not quotes from standard medical treatment sources. Modern medicine has come a long way from when the common joke was, “Half of what they teach you in Med School is wrong, we just don’t know which half.” But, even today the intelligent doctors don’t claim to know everything. A personal friend of mine, whose long career was as an Emergency room doctor favorite joke was, ” Doctors think they are Gods and Emergency Room doctors know they are.” I’m just an experimenter and don’t claim to be a god of any degree, and I know that most of what I try doesn’t work very well, but when it does work well I think it is proper to let the world know. And, so I do. I hope you can appreciate that. Perhaps the fever isn’t only a result of breakdown detritus, but it is part of the interactive feedback communicating system of the body.

I learned when I was in high school to take a super hot bath when I got the first signs of a flu or cold.. I though it was doing the same thing as what a fever did. I thought it was cooking the virus. Either way it always worked for me. I think I must have gotten the water hotter because it only took one hot bath and I was fine after. I do get the flu vaccination now so I have not gotten the flu in a long time. I still do it for colds and the cold is gone by the next day.

Actually recent studies show that not only do higher body temperatures help slow pathogens’ reproduction, but they also trigger an increase in killer T cells. Google it. Found this post while soaking in a hot bath 5o hasten getting over a nasty cold.

I have a hunch that this is also why going on a long run when I feel like I’m coming down with a cold seems to nip it in the bud. Unfortunately this one came on too quickly and I sure don’t feel like a run.

Acutally ur wrong a fever is to kill and bactiria and germs in the body i have a cold now a sever cold or flu but ive been takeing 108 baths to where the water was almost boiling it takes time for u to be ablw to stand that high temp took me a week everyday soaking in a hot bath n i would go up a couple degrees each day now my colds only last for a day or so

Everyone is talking out their BUTTS!, nothing and I repeat NOTHING is proven at killing any sort of cold or flu virus, the ONLY remedy to NOT getting the cold or flu in the first place, is to:-

1……….STAY away from people that even look like they have a cold of flu, you can tell this by the way they dress for the time of year.

2……….Maintain a house temperature of 68-72F

3……….Dress thinly, meaning, just because you think you feel cold at 68F and start to pile on the clothes, DON’T.

4……….Sleep with a blowing fan.

I’ve followed this for many years, and the last time I can remember actually suffering a common cold was somewhere just after leaving school back in 1976, and recently (a few years back) I contracted the bird flue, but since my immune system is (what I call) ultra strong, I got over the bird flu in a matter of a few days, and even if I start to get the first symptoms of a cold, it’s completely gone within a day, and I don’t do anything special like drink homey tea, push up the central heating,,, wear 3 layers of clothes, etc etc.

Hi Fred – Thanks for your comment, and I would totally agree with you except for one thing. I have done this procedure since 1992, published it in 1994, and it worked every time since then. During that entire time no one would ever have known I had a cold, even while having a long conversation with me, because I had no visible symptoms. That is twenty two years of personal experience, and all I am doing is reporting what that experience has demonstrated to me. It is totally your option to give a try, or to take aspirin and suppress your fever, even if suppressing a fever just makes the cold last longer.

At first sign of virus (usually a scratchy throat or sniffles) I draw the hottest bath I can stand in my jacuzzi bath tub. I raise my temp. until my eyes feel hot, and breathe as much steam as I can. I lie face down in the hottest water and snuffle hot water into my nose and mouth. I lie in this until the water cools down, so at least 15min. or more. Then I do to bed with extra clothes,socks, and an electric blanket. I let two zinc lozenges from GNC dissolve in my mouth so that it drains down my throat.
If I am achy, I take some aspirin. This procedure always works for me, I haven’t had a full blown cold for 40 years at least, I’ve never had the flu.
I’ve never measured my temp or the water temp but I think it’s very hot, at least 105. Works for me, and always does!! Michele

Thanks Michele – I am happy to hear you have had good results from your hot bath procedure. I only have 20 years experience, but have had excellent results too. I don’t take aspirin during a cold, because that lowers the fever. I do take a 106 degree bath and create a five minute 102.0 degree fever, my body temperature drops back to normal in ten minutes after getting out, and there is no need for aspirin. I don’t need to stay in bed, after the bath, because I feel totally normal for about twelve hours. Then as a chill or fever starts to come back I take another hot bath, and feel fine for twelve more hours. Keep doing what works for you, but a couple of bucks spent on an oral thermometer would let you control more accurately what is happening to your body.

Thank you for your articles. I will try out these tips. Regardless of the outcome, I feel sorry how narrow minded some people are, particularly those that called themselves doctors. Please keep the blogs coming.

PS : would wet sauna achieve the same effect? I had tried that to raise the body temperature but it didn’t seem to work and gotten worried if I had pick up any germs in that contained environment.

Awhile back while learning why fevers work(many many years ago in college), the theory was that an elevated body temp heats up DNA and RNA molecules, this causes them to warp and either become ineffective or reduces their functionality. The theory goes thay human DNA/RNA is more resilient to heat and when the temp comes back down, return quickly back to normal function, but flu and cold viruses are less resilient and may either stay partially warped or mutate, thus preventing their proliferation. I’m curious as to your view, is this past theory outmoded or was it incorrect? Or does it still hold some truth? Thanks!

Reading this because I started to feel sick yesterday, went to sleep with lots of blankets because I felt cold, had socks on. I woke up in the middle of the night and was super hot and sweaty, but felt quite a lot better and so I wondered if maybe it was the heat, in fact my nose ran and it just seemed my body was shedding the virus. I also found research by Yale university that shows that heat slows the replication of the common cold virus. http://news.yale.edu/2016/07/11/warmer-body-temp-puts-heat-common-cold So, thanks!! I am thinking I will take some hot baths today.